Peacebuilding a shared Northern Irish society
A victim from the inside out: Photographic exhibition of Maurice Hobson by Allan LEONARD 6 September 2017 Maurice Hobson was a 17-year-old pupil at Dungannon Royal School when a bomb blew up in Market Square, while he was waiting to board the school bus. A car jack hit him on the left side of his... Continue Reading →
Solace or detachment in our journeys? Translink photography exhibition by Allan LEONARD 9 August 2017 Passengers who have travelled through Belfast Central Station this summer have had an opportunity to meet others captured in photographs by students from Ulster University’s School of Art. The public exhibition of large prints mounted onto easels is named “Journey”,... Continue Reading →
Poetry & Place: Photographic interpretations of Louis MacNeiceby Allan LEONARD25 July 2017 Women of the Ards peninsula worked with community artist, Jane McComb, to use photography not only to document social, maritime, and agricultural legacy of the area, but also to give interpretation to the writings of poet, Louis MacNeice (1907–1963), who is buried locally... Continue Reading →
Conflicting Images: Ulster Museum by Allan LEONARD 26 July 2017 As part of its Collecting the Troubles and Beyond initiative, the Ulster Museum currently has an exhibition called Conflicting Images: Photography during the Northern Irish Troubles. In a loose chronology there are 140 images from a variety of photographers. International photojournalists arrived with increased disturbances.... Continue Reading →
Open space photography at the Linen Hall Library by Allan LEONARD 31 May 2017 Gaining inspiration from viewing the archive postcard collection at the Linen Hall Library, a group of participants in a community photography workshop facilitated by Belfast Exposed set out to document their views of sharing and respecting open space in the city.... Continue Reading →
Softening images of Partition by Allan LEONARD 24 May 2017 Although John Irvine left Northern Ireland over 15 years ago, having grown up about East Antrim, he retains “strong links” and comes home frequently. Irvine explained how one morning drive accidentally led him to his book, Partition. Irvine picked up photography in his mid-20s, mainly... Continue Reading →
Then & Now: Belfast Blitz by Allan LEONARD 17 May 2017 In an apparent continuation of their Then & Now series, the Public Records Office of Northern Ireland (PRONI) has produced a new set of blended images that show the material destruction caused by the Belfast Blitz attacks (April-May 1941), alongside contemporary and more familiar... Continue Reading →
Stéphane Duroy: Selecting memories by Allan LEONARD 3 May 2017 A recent exhibition in Le Bal featured a retrospective of the work by Stéphane Duroy. Again and Again contained a selection of hung prints on the ground floor and an installation of his reworked book, Unknown, in the lower level. The prints displayed his wanderings... Continue Reading →
Everywhere is different but nevertheless is not unrecognisable by Allan LEONARD 25 April 2017 Of the treasure trove of prints and negatives held by the Public Record Office of Northern Ireland (PRONI), a relatively small selection of about 2,500 images are available to view on Flickr. This consists of three collections: the Allison Photographic Collection,... Continue Reading →
I found myself with spare time before the bus commute home, so I popped over to Belfast Exposed, where I knew there was a exhibition of participants in its Stage 3 training photography courses. Coincidentally, I discovered as I walked in that there was a session of portfolio reviews. About half a dozen tables on... Continue Reading →
What happens when you ask an online chat room how to make a home? In an interview-style format with about 50 people attending, Belfast Exposed Curator Ciara Hickey asked artist Jan McCullough to share her journey. Home Instruction Manual is the product of the Internet. That is, while Jan McCullough is the author of this... Continue Reading →
Bringing our own lens: Visualising conflict in Palestine by Allan LEONARD 15 March 2016 The rear room at Common Grounds Cafe was the venue for a display of three types of imagery — participatory, documentary, and expository — for the Imagine! Festival of Ideas & Politics event, Visualising Conflict in Palestine, which was attended by... Continue Reading →